The finished leaves are bright green, and moderately broken up, although I did fine one or two small whole leaves

I think part of the astringency is the brewing, here, because just for accuracy's sake, not really for comparison, I'm brewing up some of the Yuuki-Cha Sayamakaori sencha at the same time, and finding some of the same elements in it--not the roastedness, but more astringency than I'm used to. I think my leaf-to-water ratio is really not quite the same as in the kyusu. But I've got a pretty good idea that this is going to be a very nice sencha, and am looking forward to first proper session with the Tokoname kyusu.

Both with this and with another new green tea I tried this weekend, it's quite clear that despite attempts to control conditions, changes in brewing conditions for the purpose of doing these comparisons--brewing sencha in my gaiwans instead of my kyusu--sometimes distorts the results, because I'm moving outside my usual comfort zone.

A 2nd set of infusions, in the 5 oz kyusu with 4 grams of leaf, tap water 160 degrees at first, infusions 30", 15", 30"; raised temp to 170 degrees for 45 seconds and 1 minute infusions, worked out better, still some astringency but not as much.

Another brewing of the Zairai sencha this morning, and at Greg's suggestion, I tried a lower temperature: 145 degrees, and it is quite entirely lovely. This is the sweet spot. 30", 10", 30". Upped temp to 155 for the 4th infusion. Sweet and nutty and lovely. The nutty was decreased in the first infusion vs the last time when I started 160 degrees, but came back in the 2nd and third infusion; the fourth, with hotter water, brought back the sweetness over the nutty. Still, the nuttiness reminds me a lot of Long Jing.

Liu An Gua Pian from Seven Cups in my cup this morning. Last week when I was (once again) cleaning out my tea cabinets to make space for more tea and teaware I decided that on a daily basis one of my teas could vary but the other would focus on a particular tea until it's gone. I chose Liu An Gua Pian as the first focus. My first brewings had an unpleasant mineral overtone and the tea was gradually and inadvertently moved to the rear of the cabinet. Now I've settled on brewing parameters that result in a soft rounded flavor that I'm really enjoying. Repetition is helping me be more observant of the finer points of the tea's qualities.

After that very nice session with the Norbu Zairai sencha two days ago, today I tried my Sayamakaori cooler than usual--starting at 145 degrees, ending up at 160, instead of starting first infusions 160 and gradually increasing to 180 degrees.

It was lovely--a little sweeter, mellower, but still rich and vegetal. Very nice.

Apparently this year's is yucky, but I am happy with it as a every day tea as the price was that of a cheapie. Anyway, I am ordering Huangshan Mao Feng after a session of this tea today with my "cha mates". Awesome tea, bitter with light sweet aftertones afterwards. It really impressed me knowing that the price was also low.